Protesters want DACA restored without border wall concessions
Roughly three dozen people protested outside the Austin office of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Wednesday afternoon and called for a better congressional deal to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — one that doesn’t require concessions like the construction of additional border walls or increased immigration enforcement.
The DACA program, which was created by President Barack Obama in 2012, offered relief from deportation and work permits to some unauthorized immigrants who arrived to the country as children and don’t have a criminal record. President Donald Trump rescinded the program in September and gave Congress six months to come up with a permanent plan on what to do about DACA recipients.
“We’re here today because we know Senator Cornyn has been having discussions with other senators, telling them that they can make deals — that maybe they can do a Dream Act and add a border wall or add more enforcement,” said Julieta Garibay, co-founder of the proDACA organization United We Dream.
The Texas Sierra Club, United We Dream and the Austin Environmental Justice Team organized Wednes- day’s protest.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave a speech in Austin on Friday in which he criticized the DACA program. Sessions said Trump has proposed reducing by half the number of green cards issued and proposed hiring more than 10,000 ICE officers, 1,000 ICE attorneys, 300 prosecutors and about 400 immigration judges.
Austin officials said Wednesday that no local financial incentives were included in the city’s proposal for Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters project.
More than 230 cities and counties submitted bids for the project, which Amazon is calling its “HQ2.” Amazon announced in September that it would accept bids from North American cities that want to be home to the project.
A memo from interim city Chief Financial Officer Greg Canally to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council members says Austin did not include financial incentives in its proposal because the city has a public process it must engage in before approving any incentives for economic development projects. The process includes multiple City Council meetings and an opportunity for residents to offer their opinions.
In a letter from Adler to Amazon that was included in the city’s proposal and released publicly Wednesday, the mayor said Austin is eager to work with the online retail giant. The letter detailed positive features about the city, such as the tech talent found here and prime educational institutions such as the University of Texas.
Adler also wrote about some of the challenges Austin is trying to conquer such as mobility.
“I firmly believe Austin and Amazon can help each other achieve solutions to our biggest challenges,” Adler wrote. “You’ll find in Austin a hospitable, purposeful collaborator that knows its strengths as well as its needs, and is thoroughly committed to building for the future.”
While Austin officials did not include financial incentives in the city’s proposal, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office has said previously said it would offer an equal financial incentive package for any Texas city bidding for the Amazon project. If Amazon picks a city in Texas, it’s expected the majority of any financial incentives would receive would come from the state.
The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce submitted the city’s proposal to Amazon on Oct. 18. Chamber officials said the bid was made on the behalf of Austin and the other cities and counties in the metro area.
Amazon said it will invest $5 billion in its second headquarters project and will hire 50,000 highly paid workers wherever the project lands. The company said “HQ2” will eventually be the equivalent to its Seattle headquarters.
Amazon said it will choose a winning city sometime next year.